Calling In The Light Part 2
Updated: Mar 9, 2021
On Imbolc Eve I cleaned the kitchen table of the old cups, diaper covers, toys, and mail and Justin lit a few candles - the ones that live in the thrifted brass candleholders that he lights when I'm feeling down. I hung my favorite blouse, dyed with avocados by my very own hands, on the porch railing for Brigid to bless and breathed in the cold winter air after a long day. It was snowing and quickly whitewashing our hill, and I decided that it added even more magick to my top - the talisman that I'll turn to when I need to feel pure love, like a blanket smoothing over all of my rough edges. We sat down to a bowl of warm chili and talked of the highs and lows of the day, of the festivities I had hoped to accomplish, and of future holidays with our people. I know the days of crafts and baking bread with my daughter are on the horizon, I know we'll get there eventually, but it still brings a tinge of disappointment when I can't make these big expectations come to fruition. I think that's been my biggest lesson of parenthood thus far, to let go of my high standards, the picture-esque Pinterest holidays. Instead, I train myself to focus on the little moments, the snapshots I take when I go back through the day in my mind. Of her on my hip, in her sling, the one that's held her from infancy - the linen so soft now after nearly a million naps taken within it's embrace. I didn't get to make birdseed ornaments or a Bridey doll, but I twirled the delicate curls that wrap around my daughter's ears while she slept in my arms and I listened to a podcast about Ireland - it's the small stuff that no one else sees that's worth all the world.
The following day we bundled up in our wool and went for a walk around the property. We live in the city, or as city as it can be in rural West Virginia. I can throw a rock and hit my neighbors house, but we're nestled up on top of a hill and our backyard borders the woods. I pocketed a baby food jar and collected snow from a few of our favorite spots,
the tip top of our hill, the gem of our property, which looks out onto our little bowl of a valley
from the witches circle, a stand of 4 trees nestled in the woods that feels dark and ethereal
the Mulberry tree, which has become my daughters perch and has long been a safe space for me to work my craft under
These places hold power for our family. We've walked the grounds countless times, our laughter echoes within these woods. I've meditated beside the moss, collected rocks with Fiona and cheered my dog on while he's "zoomied" himself silly - our energy lives here. So when I use this snow, this water, on my altar it'll be charged with our life, with our love.
That evening I stood in my kitchen wearing the avocado blouse and faced North. With my left hand in the air I said,
"I call on the North, South, East and West. I call on Above and Below. I invite in my Guides, those big and small and I ask for your love and guidance during this ritual."
With my left hand still facing North, I joined my right hand to it and then cast it in a clockwise circle above my head 3x while repeating, "I open sacred space, I open sacred space, I open sacred space" and envisioned a protective bubble around me and my kitchen.
I sat at my kitchen table with my portable altar (a decorative box which holds the tools of my trade) and set out each of my tools while calling in the element,
AIR: a black feather
FIRE: candles, my wand
EARTH: an Amethyst crystal
WATER: the snow I collected in a quartz bowl with a
pinch of salt (to turn it into witches water/holy water)
I added the sigil I created for Brid (the Goddess commonly associated with Imbolc) and the Eye of Horus (for his association with light and the fire element), as well as an offering of whiskey and a glass for myself.
I gathered herbs for tea:
Ginger
Fennel
Turmeric
Star Anise
Fenugreek
Chamomile
All of which I associate with the sun, the light. I set the water to boil and added all but the Chamomile and reduced to a simmer, throwing in the Chamomile at the very end. I poured myself a cup and added a heaping spoonful of golden raw honey and retreated to my little kitchen altar. With my cup in hand, I called on each plant and asked for its Divine guidance. Feeling into the warmth that settles right into my center, a smile spreads across my face. The energy of the room is soft and comforting and I close my eyes for a bit, relishing what I've just created, knowing that my Guides are with me. I take a sip of my tea and reach for pen and paper. It's my intention to use this space to channel the element of Air, the mind, and put into words what I'm wanting to manifest in myself and my reality. I write out my wishes, my seeds that I'll tend to with care and action. With each word written I bring it to life in my mind's eye, I feel it with my whole being. When I'm done I fold the paper just so and seal it with candle wax and leave it in the center of the altar to stew and charge - knowing that what will be, will be.
My teacher Lindsay Mack put out a spread specifically for Imbolc, so I pull out The Star (the card that resonates with Aquarius) and lay it down in front of me to act as an anchor. I pull six cards, per her prompts:
Where am I on my healing journey at this moment?
How can I surrender more fully to this process of healing and regeneration?
What support can I lean into at this time?
What am I being invited to say "no thank you" to?
What am I desiring more of at this time?
The card that is showing up as my teacher and anchor in this healing journey?
I journal the messages from my Guides, comparing Lindsay's teachings to my own intuition and bouncing all of it off of the plants that are depicted on the cards (The Herbcrafter's Tarot). My messages are always "decoded" in this way. I personally believe that when I work with my cards I'm directly working with my team of Spirit Guides - elemental beings, celestial beings, ancestors, deities, angels, you name it. I don't attempt to "know" who I'm speaking to, though I will specifically call on entities that I'm working with one-on-one in certain situations. Generally speaking, though, I call on my Guides that are walking this path with me to my Highest and Best, the one's that come in love and want me to be the truest version of myself. I use text, symbolism and my personal relationship to plants to decipher the guidance that they're laying out for me. The same card never means quite the same thing depending on the day, the situation and what I most need to hear. I'm forever expanding and contracting and my practice reflects my ever-changing needs.
I finish my tea and thank my Guides and release them, thank the elements and release them and get up and face the Northern wall in my kitchen once again. With my left hand in the air I say,
"I thank all those that come together to make my life Divine. I am eternally grateful for your love and support. I am humbled and in service to you always. With all my love and reverence I close this circle, I close this circle, I close this circle" while drawing a counter-clockwise circle in the air above my head and envisioning my circle rippling out like a pebble in water - dissipating the energy I created back out into the Universe. I dry brush, or energetically sweep my body from head to toe, and imagine that I'm brushing away any energy that doesn't serve my Highest Self. I put out the candles, draw the Brid sigil on the front door with the snow water, leave the whiskey on the porch and put all of my tools back into their box, all in time for the wee babe to announce to the world that she's ready for mama's late night embrace.
It's simple work, in practice. Just a woman in her kitchen connecting to what she feels is higher than herself. No flash or flair needed. Justin watched a movie in the next room and my girl slept in the room next to that. Real people, real lives, real magick. I say this for my inner 16 year old wondering where in the world I was supposed to get an athame or a chalice and where I was going to hide it or get the privacy to explore without shame or judgement. I felt I couldn't do anything unless I was doing it exactly as it was described in the books and that kept me from practicing for many years. It's in learning that I'm my own guru that I've been set free. So embrace the elaborate rituals with the most precious of tools or work your gifts in the dirt in your yard with nothing but a leaf and an acorn - it's in following your heart that you find your way home.
References:
https://christopherpenczak.com/
I also want to make a special acknowledgement to Kacy Danae, whom I most regretfully forget to mention in my first post. Without her gifts and service to the Collective by means of Astrology, education and you-can-move-mountains hypegirl vibe, I would not be where I am today. Thank you for sparking my fire.
https://www.kacydanae.com/
I share my words and wisdom with the intentions of deepening my own craft and educating others as far as my personal study and experiences go, with no intentions of out-shadowing your own innate knowing. I bow to those that have come before me and give thanks to the many resources and teachers that have shaped my practice. I want to specifically state how truly grateful I am/we are to be able to practice our craft without fear.
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